Data display apparatus, data display method, data display program and graphical user interface

ABSTRACT

A data display apparatus includes: an extraction condition setting section that sets, based on an original data row where a plurality of data are arranged in a predetermined order, an extraction condition of extraction data that is to be displayed on a predetermined display section; and an extraction data display section that displays, out of an extraction data row where the extraction data extracted from the original data row based on the extraction condition are arranged in the predetermined order, the extraction data that are within a predetermined range in a predetermined display size on the display section.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of prior application Ser. No.11/633,314, filed Dec. 4, 2006, which claims the priority benefit ofJapanese patent application number 2005-356975, filed in the JapanesePatent Office on Dec. 9, 2005, each of which is hereby incorporated byreference to the maximum extent allowable by law.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a data display apparatus, data displaymethod, data display program and graphical user interface, and ispreferably applied to a case in which a user is provided with a userinterface to easily retrieve his/her desired piece of music data from alarge amount of music data, for example.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, it has become possible that a content playback devicecan store a large amount of digital data (content), such as music andvideo data, in a large-capacity hard disk. The content playback deviceis also capable of acquiring the digital data from external servers orthe like through a high-speed network or the like and playing pack apiece of content specified by a user.

A content playback device that allows a user to easily select a piece ofcontent is disclosed because it displays thumbnails, each of which isassociated with each piece of content, in a list format afterclassifying them by type (media). (see Jpn. Pat. Laid-open PublicationNo. 2004-356774, for example)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

By the way, an audio device that plays back pieces of music content iscapable of storing many pieces of music content (thousands to tenthousands of music content, for example) in the internal hard disk.However, because the number of pixels on display panels or the like islimited, they just display a very limited number of thumbnail images onone screen and the size of images is limited.

If the number of thumbnail images to be displayed on a screen of theaudio device is decreased, a user who is selecting a piece of musiccontent can easily recognize each thumbnail, however, it would betroublesome because they may have to perform many operations, such asmove or scroll.

If the number of thumbnail images to be displayed on a screen of theaudio device is increased, the size of thumbnail images may be reduceddue to the conditions of the display panel. In this case, the user hasdifficulty in finding out his/her desired piece of content because it isdifficult to recognize each thumbnail.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points and isintended to provide a data display apparatus, data display method, datadisplay program and graphical user interface that allows a user toeasily recognize a plurality of data displayed.

In one aspect of the present invention, a data display apparatus, datadisplay method and data display program performs the steps of: setting,based on an original data row where a plurality of data are arranged ina predetermined order, an extraction condition of extraction data thatis to be displayed on a predetermined display section; and displaying,out of an extraction data row where the extraction data extracted fromthe original data row based on the extraction condition are arranged inthe predetermined order, the extraction data that are within apredetermined range in a predetermined display size on the displaysection.

Accordingly, only the extraction data extracted from all data based onthe extraction condition are displayed in a predetermined display sizesuch that the relative order of extraction data on the original data rowis maintained.

In another aspect of the present invention, a graphical user interface,which displays both a selection operation of selecting data to bedisplayed on a display section through an input section and an interfaceaction of an information processing apparatus based on the selectionoperation as an image on the display section, performs the steps of:setting, based on an original data row where a plurality of data arearranged in a predetermined order, an extraction condition of extractiondata that is to be displayed on the display section; and displaying, outof an extraction data row where the extraction data extracted from theoriginal data row based on the extraction condition are arranged in thepredetermined order, the extraction data that are within a predeterminedrange in a predetermined display size on the display section.

Accordingly, in response to the input operation, only the extractiondata extracted from all data based on the extraction condition aredisplayed in a predetermined display size such that the relative orderof extraction data on the original data row is maintained.

In another aspect of the present invention, a data display apparatusincludes: cull condition setting means for setting a cull condition tocull exclusion data that a display section does not display from anoriginal data row where a plurality of data are arranged in apredetermined order; and extraction data display means for displaying,out of an extraction data row where extraction data obtained by cullingthe exclusion data from the original data row based on the cullcondition are arranged in the predetermined order, data that are withina predetermined range whose center is a predetermined remarkable data ina predetermined display size on the display section.

Accordingly, only the extraction data which are left as a result ofculling the exclusion data from all data are displayed in apredetermined display size such that the relative order of extractiondata on the original data row is maintained.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, only the extractiondata extracted from all data based on the extraction condition aredisplayed in a predetermined display size such that the relative orderof extraction data on the original data row is maintained. Thus, thedata display apparatus, the data display method and the data displayprogram allow a user to easily recognize a plurality of data displayed.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, inresponse to the input operation, only the extraction data extracted fromall data based on the extraction condition are displayed in apredetermined display size such that the relative order of extractiondata on the original data row is maintained. Thus, the graphical userinterface allows a user to easily recognize a plurality of datadisplayed.

Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, onlythe extraction data which are left as a result of culling the exclusiondata from all data are displayed in a predetermined display size suchthat the relative order of extraction data on the original data row ismaintained. Thus, the data display apparatus allows a user to easilyrecognize a plurality of data displayed.

The nature, principle and utility of the invention will become moreapparent from the following detailed description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts aredesignate by like reference numerals or characters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an audio device;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the circuitconfiguration of the audio device;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the functionalconfiguration of the audio device;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams illustrating the configuration ofa data management table;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the information displayed ona front panel in all music display mode;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a focusframe;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating methods of selecting anddisplaying the pieces of music content;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating methods of zoom changedisplay;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating methods of selecting anddisplaying the pieces of music content after zoom out display;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating methods of zoom in display;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating methods of artistclassification selection display;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an associationdisplay process about thumbnail images and content icons;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of metadata;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of prioritydata;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an allcontent row;

FIGS. 16A and 16B are schematic diagrams illustrating methods ofdisplaying thumbnail images and cull marks;

FIGS. 17A through 17C are schematic diagrams illustrating methods ofchanging selected content;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a display updateprocess of zoom change operation;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a thumbnail imagedisplay update process;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a display updateprocess of selection operation;

FIGS. 21A through 21C are schematic diagrams illustrating a method ofchanging a selected piece of content;

FIGS. 22A through 22F are schematic diagrams illustrating an example ofdisplaying a cull mark according to another embodiment of the presentinvention (1);

FIGS. 23A and 23B are schematic diagrams illustrating an example ofdisplaying a cull mark according to another embodiment of the presentinvention (2);

FIGS. 24A and 24B are schematic diagrams illustrating an example ofdisplaying a thumbnail image according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a frontpanel (1) according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a frontpanel (2) according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

(1) Overall Configuration of Audio Device

In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 denotes an audio device according toan embodiment of the present invention. An insertion slot 3 is placed ona right side panel 2A of a housing 2. The insertion slot 3 accepts anoptical disc 4 such as Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) and Compact Disc(CD). An entry slot 5 is placed below the insertion slot 3. The entryslot 5 accepts a small memory card 6 such as “MEMORY STICK (RegisteredTrademark of Sony Corporation)”.

The audio device 1 also includes the following components: a contentdisplay section 8, such as liquid crystal display, on a front panel 7;an operation button disposed area 10 on the right of the content displaysection 8; and a zoom dial 12 with a selection dial 11 on the bottomright of the content display section 8 and the operation button disposedarea 10. The zoom dial 12, which is larger than the selection dial 11,is placed under the selection dial 11 that is to be used to select musiccontent.

In addition, the audio device 1 includes time axis bar display sectionsTB1 and TB2 (described below) to present pieces of music content inchronologic order, or in order of time. The time axis bar displaysections TB1 and TB2 are for example equivalent to a liquid crystaldisplay, being placed below the content display section 8 and theoperation button disposed area 10.

The audio device 1 is capable of playing back the music content from theoptical disc 4 in the insertion slot 3 and from the small memory card 6in the entry slot 5 to output music through a speaker (not shown)connected to the audio device 1. In addition, the audio device 1 iscapable of reading out the music content from the optical disc 4 and thesmall memory card 6 to store it in an internal hard disk drive.

Furthermore, the audio device 1 is capable of connecting to the Internetthrough a network cable. This allows the audio device 1 to download thedesired music content from external servers on the Internet and thenstore it in the internal hard disk drive.

The operation button disposed area 10 includes a group of operationbuttons 9: a playback button 9A, which is to be used to play back orstop the music data selected by the selection dial 11; a skip button 9B,which is used to skip the music content; a volume control button 9C; arecording button 9D; a timer setting button 9E; a user rating button 9F(described later); a menu button 9G, which is used to switch modes;optional buttons 9H to 9K, to which various functions may be assignedaccording to the modes; and a cancel button 9L. The audio device 1performs various processes in accordance with the user's operation ofthe operation buttons 9.

(2) Circuit Configuration of Audio Device (2-1) Circuit Configuration

As shown in FIG. 2, a control section 20 takes overall control of theaudio device 1. In the control section 20, a Central Processing Unit(CPU) 20A reads out programs, such as basic programs and content displayprograms, from a Read Only Memory (ROM) 20B through a bus 21, and thenloads them onto a Random Access Memory (RAM) 20C to perform processessuch as a content display process.

The control section 20 for example rips music data from the optical disc4 (FIG. 1) that has been inserted into a DVD drive 23 through theinsertion slot 3 (FIG. 1). The control section 20 then encodes the musicdata in the format of MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3), Adaptive TransformAcoustic Coding 3 (ATRAC3) or the like to generate the music content MC.Alternatively, the control section 20 directly reads out the musiccontent MC, which has been already encoded, from the small memory card 6that has been inserted into a memory card drive 24 through the entryslot 5 (FIG. 1). The control section 20 stores the music content MC in ahard disk drive (HDD) 22.

The control section 20 also acquires the music content MC from anexternal content server (not shown) through a network interface 25, andthen stores it in the hard disk drive 22.

In addition to that, the control section 20 acquires, from the externalcontent server and other servers that are connected to the audio device1 through the Internet, a thumbnail image SG including jacketphotographs of the music content MC, and metadata MTD including musicnames, artist names, and release date of the music content MC. Thecontrol section 20 subsequently reduces the size of the thumbnail imageSG in all directions, and then compresses the size of thumbnail image SGin horizontal direction to produce a content icon CA. The controlsection 20 then stores the content icon CA in the hard disk drive 22such that it is associated with the music content MC.

By the way, the hard disk drive 22 has enough space to store, forexample, thousands to tens of thousands of pieces of music content MC.

A video controller 26A of a display section 26 obtains a display commandfrom the control section 20 via the bus 21. In response to the displaycommand, the video controller 26A displays a plurality of thumbnailimages SG of music content MC on the content display section 8 of thefront panel 7. In addition, the video controller 26A displays a contenticon CA on the time axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2, and alsoupdates, in response to the display command, the displayed information.

When a user rotates the selection dial 11 to the right or left (thisoperation will be also referred to as “selection operation”), a rotaryencoder (not shown) of an operation input section 27 in the selectiondial 11 generates, in response to the rotated angle (the amount ofrotation), a rotation signal SR1, and then supplies the rotation signalSR1 to the control section 20 through an input interface 27A and the bus21.

In response to that, the control section 20 switches what it focuses toa right- or left-hand thumbnail image SG on the content display section8. In this manner, the control section 20 changes the selection of themusic content MC (described later in detail).

When a user rotates the zoom dial 12 to the right or left (thisoperation will be also referred to as “zoom change operation”), a rotaryencoder (not shown) of the operation input section 27 in the zoom dial12 generates, in response to the rotated angle, a rotation signal SR2,and then supplies the rotation signal SR2 to the control section 20through the input interface 27A and the bus 21.

In response to that, the control section 20 changes an extractioncondition that defines which thumbnail images SG the content displaysection 8 displays out of all the thumbnail images SG of the musiccontent MC stored in the hard disk drive 22, and updates the thumbnailimages SG on the content display section 8. The control section 20 alsoupdates a display pattern of the content icons CA on the time axis bardisplay sections TB1 and TB2 (described later in detail).

When the operation buttons 9 are pushed, the operation input section 27generates a push signal SU, and then supplies the push signal to thecontrol section 20 through the input interface 27A and the bus 21. Inthis case, the control section 20 performs various processes in responseto the operation button pushed (i.e. the playback button 9A to thecancel button 9L), such as playback process.

When the playback button 9A of the operation buttons 9 is pushed whileany music content MC is not being played back, the control section 20reads out the piece of music content MC, which is associated with thefocused (or selected) thumbnail image SG, from the hard disk drive 22,and then supplies the piece of music content MC to the audio controller28 via the bus 21.

The audio controller 28 receives the piece of music content MC, whichwas read from the hard disk drive 22, via the bus 21, and then performsprocesses in accordance with the encoding format of the music contentMC, such as decoding and Digital-to-Analog (D/A) conversion, to producea reproduced signal SA. The audio controller 28 subsequently amplifiesthe reproduced signal SA by an amplifier 29, and then supplies it to aspeaker 30 which then outputs, based on the reproduced signal, sound.

In this manner, the audio device 1 displays the thumbnail image SG ofthe piece of music content MC stored in the hard disk drive 22 on thecontent display section 8 and the like, and also updates the informationdisplayed on the content display section 8 and the like in response tothe selection operation or zoom change operation of the operation inputsection 27 about the music content MC, and then plays back the selectedpiece of music content MC.

(2-2) Functional Configuration of Audio Device

FIG. 3 shows the functional configuration of the audio device 1,detailing the functions of displaying the thumbnail images SG.

The hard disk drive 22 stores the following data in a content storagesection 22A: the pieces of music content MC, and the thumbnail images SGand content icons CA corresponding to the pieces of music content MC.The hard disk drive 22 also stores various metadata MTD, such as musicnames, artist names, release data and annual ranking of the pieces ofmusic content MC, in a content metadata storage section 22B.

The hard disk drive 22 uses a content data management table TBL1 (FIG.4A) to manage the pieces of music content MC, which are stored in thecontent storage section 22A, their thumbnail images SG and content iconsCA as a file with a predetermined content name indicated by a contentID. FIG. 4B shows a content metadata management table TBL2 that managesvarious metadata MTD, which are stored in the content metadata storagesection 22B, as a file with a content metadata name indicated by acontent ID.

A display condition setting section 20D of the control section 20 sets,in accordance with the selection operation of the selection dial 11 ofthe operation input section 27 or the zoom change operation of the zoomdial 12 of the operation input section 27, the display condition thatdefines which thumbnail images SG the content display section 8 displaysand which content icons CA the time axis bar display sections TB1 andTB2 display, and then supplies the display condition to an arrangementsection 20E.

The arrangement section 20E of the control section 20 obtains thedisplay condition from the display condition setting section 20D, andthen acquires the thumbnail image SG of each piece of music content MCthat matches the display condition from the content storage section 22Aof the hard disk drive 22 through a content management section 20F. Thearrangement section 20E also acquires the metadata MTD of each piece ofmusic content MC that matches the display condition from the contentmetadata storage section 22B of the hard disk drive 22 through a contentmetadata management section 20G.

The arrangement section 20E selects, based on the metadata MTD andthumbnail image SG of each piece of music content MC, the thumbnailimages SG to be displayed on the content display section 8 and arrangesthem by a content display arrangement section EA. A time axis bararrangement section 20EB generates display image data DD by arrangingthe content icons CA to be displayed on the time axis bar displaysections TB1 and TB2. The arrangement section 20E supplies the displayimage data DD to the display section 26.

Based on the display image data DD, the display 26 displays a displayimage: the thumbnail images SG are placed on the content display section8 and the content icons CA are placed on the time axis bar displaysections TB1 and TB2.

(3) Configuration of Front Panel

The audio device 1 according to an embodiment of the present inventionhas enough space to store thousands to tens of thousands of pieces ofmusic content MC in its internal hard disk drive 22. The front panel 7is designed to allow a user to easily retrieve his/her desired piece ofmusic content MC from many pieces of music content MC without usingmusic or artist names.

(3-1) All Music Display Mode

As shown in FIG. 5, the front panel 7 of the audio device 1 includes thefollowing components: the content display section 8, which displays aplurality of pieces of thumbnail images SG (5 pieces, in this case) eachof which includes a jacket photograph and the like of the music content;the time axis bar display section TB1, where the content icons CA1 toCAn corresponding to all pieces of music content MC stored in the harddisk drive 22 are displayed side by side in order of release date (year,month and day of release); and the time axis bar display section TB2,where the content icons CA of the pieces of music content MC that havebeen culled in a predetermined manner at the time of content retrievalas low-priority data are displayed side by side in order of release date(year, month and day of release).

An all music display mode displays all the content icons CA1 to CAn onthe time axis bar display section TB1 in order of release date (year,month and day of release), and does not display any content icons CA onthe time axis bar display section TB2.

If the user selects one piece of music content MC by the selection dial11, then this piece of music content MC is focused by the contentdisplay section 8. The content display section 8 visually notifies theuser of the fact that the piece of music content MC has been focused byputting a red focus frame FC1 on the thumbnail image SG of this piece ofmusic content MC. In addition, the content display section 8 displaysits release year and music name (“1981/Autumn color”, in this case) onan red underline UL1 extending upward from the focus frame FC1, and itsartist name (“YUNNZU”, in this case) under an red underline UL2extending downward from the focus frame FC1.

In this manner, the audio device 1 allows the user to easily recognizethe piece of music content MC, which is currently selected by theselection dial 11 through the focus frame FC1 of the content displaysection 8, by checking the thumbnail image SG, the characters on theunderline UL1 and the characters under the underline UL2.

Especially, the audio device 1 can present the piece of music content MCas an image of the thumbnail image SG. Therefore the user who does notremember anything like its music and artist names but its image caneasily determine whether this piece of music content is what he/shewants to retrieve. In addition, that reminds him/her that this piece ofmusic content MC is there. Accordingly, this piece of music content MCcan be included in his/her retrieval target.

The time axis bar display section TB1 on all music display mode displaysthe content icons CA1 to CAn in order of release date (year, month andday), or in order of time. In accordance with that, the content displaysection 8 displays the character strings TX1 to TX3 indicative of therelease date of the content icon CA1 to CAn (1968, 1981, and 1990, inthis case) on the bottom area of the content display section 8.

In addition, the time axis bar display section TB1 surrounds the fivecontent icons CA, which correspond to the five thumbnail images SG onthe content display section 8, with a red focus frame FC2 for example.This allows the user to visually understand, through the focus frame FC2and the character strings TX1 to TX3 on the content display section 8,where the piece of music content MC selected by the focus frame FC1 islocated on the time line.

Especially, as shown in FIG. 6, the time axis bar display section TB1surrounds the five content icons CA, which correspond to the fivethumbnail images SG currently displayed on the content display section8, with the focus frame FC2. Inside this, the time axis bar displaysection TB1 furthermore surrounds the content icon CA, which correspondsto the thumbnail image SG that is currently selected by the focus frameFC1 (FIG. 5), with the red focus frame FC3 and also puts yellow on thewhole content icon CA to be displayed.

In this manner, the audio device 1 associates the five thumbnail imagesSG on the content display section 8 with the five content icons CAinside the focus frame FC2 of the time axis bar display section TB1.Accordingly, the user can easily and intuitively understand whichgeneration the pieces of music content MC corresponding to the fivethumbnail images SG belong to on the time axis bar display section TB1.

In addition, the audio device 1 plays back, after the thumbnail image SGis selected by the focus frame FC1, the piece of music content MC of thethumbnail image SG. This allows the user to listen to the sound of thepiece of music content MC.

In this manner, the audio device 1 allows the user to check thethumbnail image SG of the piece of music content MC, its release date,and its actual sound to retrieve the piece of music content MC.Accordingly, even if the user does not remember the music name andartist name, he/she can retrieve his/her desired piece of music contentMC.

(3-2) Selection and Display of Music Content

As shown in FIG. 7, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 movesthe thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8 by one frameeach time the selection dial 11 is rotated at its minimum angularincrement by the user.

In response to that, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 movesthe focus frame FC of the content display section 8 to the next-framethumbnail image SG. In addition, the control section 20 of the audiodevice 1 moves the focus frame FC2, which surrounds five of the contenticons CA, by one frame.

At this time, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 displays therelease date and music name of the piece of music content MCcorresponding to the thumbnail image SG selected by the focus frame FC1(“1980/Hello Summer Time”, in this case) on the underline UL1, and itsartist name (“YAMAGAMI TATSUHIRO”, in this case) under the underlineUL2.

When the different thumbnail image SG is selected by the focus frameFC1, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 starts to play backthe piece of music content MC of this thumbnail image SG, and thisallows the user to listen to the sound of this piece of music contentMC.

Accordingly, each time the focus frame FC1 focuses the differentthumbnail image SG, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 outputsthe sound of the piece of music content MC corresponding to thisthumbnail image SG selected by the focus frame FC1. In this manner,outputting the sound of the piece of music content MC helps the user toretrieve his/her desired piece of music content MC.

In addition, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 on all musicdisplay mode sequentially moves, in response to the dial operation ofthe selection dial 11, the thumbnail images SG on the content displaysection 8. However, the gap between the release date of the piece ofmusic content MC of the thumbnail image SG and that of the piece ofmusic content MC of the adjacent thumbnail image SG may be just one day,or sometimes one year. It is difficult to recognize how much each dialoperation makes the release date go forward or backward. One way toaddress this point is the method of zoom change display described later.

(3-3) Zoom Change Display

When the zoom dial 12 is rotated through a certain angle to the right bythe user after the thumbnail image SG (FIG. 7) on the content displaysection 8 is selected by the focus frame FC1, the control section 20 ofthe audio device 1 extracts, based on the metadata MTD read from thecontent metadata storage section 22B of the hard disk drive 22, thenumber one pieces of music content MC on the each annual ranking list,as shown in FIG. 8. The control section 20 subsequently reads out thethumbnail images SG of these pieces of music content MC from the contentstorage section 22A, and displays them on the content display section 8as an extraction result of zooming out them out of all the thumbnailimages SG.

At the same time, the control section 20 leaves only the content iconsCA corresponding to the number one pieces of music content MC on thetime axis bar display section TB1, and moves the rest of the contenticons CA to the time axis bar display section TB2.

That is to say, the control section 20 displays, on the content displaysection 8, the release date of each piece of music content MC on the topleft side of the corresponding thumbnail image SG. In this manner, thecontrol section 20 presents a plurality of pieces of number one musiccontent MC each year based on the annual ranking as signature piece forthe year. Among them, the thumbnail image SG surrounded by the focusframe FC1 is displayed along with the underline UL1 on which the releaseyear and music name (“1980/Hello Summer Time”, in this case) aredisplayed, and the underline UL2 below which the artist name (“YAMAGAMITATSUHIRO”, in this case) is displayed.

In this case, the piece of music data MC corresponding to the thumbnailimage SG surrounded by the focus frame FC1 is that year's representativework. However, as for the piece of music content MC corresponding to thethumbnail image SG selected by the focus frame FC1 before the zoomchange operation is performed, regardless of whether it is annual numberone or not, the content display section 8 continues to display thisthumbnail image SG even after the zoom change operation.

It is because the default setting of the audio device 1 is to displaythe piece of music content MC selected by the focus frame FC1 prior toothers. Accordingly, when the selection operation of the selection dial11 moves the focus frame FC to select the different thumbnail image SG,the control section 20 of the audio device 1 zooms out the screen andthen moves the focus frame FC1 such that it surrounds the adjoiningthumbnail image SG on the right or left side of it.

In addition, in a case in which the content display section 8 displaysthe thumbnail images SG of the number one pieces of music content MCbased on the annual ranking, the control section 20 of the audio device1 leaves the content icons CA, which correspond to the number one piecesof music content MC on the annual ranking, on the time axis bar displaysection TB1 in order of date. The control section 20 picks up (or culls)the content icons CA corresponding to the second and subsequent placepieces of music content MC from the time axis bar display section TB1,and then displays them on the time axis bar display section TB2 in orderof date.

The control section 20 of the audio device 1 allows the user to visuallycheck the arrangement state of the five content icons CA surrounded bythe focus frame FC2 of the time axis bar display section TB1, and thecontent icon CA selected by the focus frame FC3. Accordingly, the usercan recognize which period of time the representative piece of musiccontent MC, which is on the zoomed out screen on the content displaysection 8, belongs to on the time axis bar display section TB1. Inaddition, by seeing the blank spaces between the content icons CA, theuser can visually and intuitively understand that many pieces of musiccontent MC have been culled because they are not representative eachyear.

That is to say, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 allows theuser to visually check the arrangement state of the content icons CA onthe time axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2 through the focus framesFC2 and FC4. Accordingly, the user can intuitively recognize how thepieces of music content MC extracted by the zoom change operation aredistributed on the time line, and how the pieces of music content MCculled (those not extracted by the zoom change operation) aredistributed on the time line.

In this manner, in the audio device 1, the user's dial operation of thezoom dial 12 picks up the number one pieces of music content MC based onthe annual ranking, and then only displays those thumbnail images SG onthe content display section 8 such that they are zoomed out. Because theaudio device 1 presents only representative pieces of the music contentMC, the user can easily find out his/her desired piece of music contentMC.

Especially, the audio device 1 only displays the thumbnail images SGcorresponding to each year's representative piece of music content MC onthe content display section 8. When the user's dial operation of theselection dial 11 moves the focus frame FC1 to select the adjoiningthumbnail image SG, the thumbnail image SG of the previous or nextyear's representative piece of music content MC will be displayed. Thisimproves the operationality, relative to the all music display mode, ina case in which the user retrieves the each year's representative pieceby the selection dial 11.

In addition, the thumbnail images SG of each year's representative pieceof music content MC helps the user to retrieve an unknown piece of musiccontent MC, one whose music name and artist name are not know tohim/her.

In addition, the audio device 1 does not change the size of thethumbnail images SG and the distance between the thumbnail images SGeven after and before they are zoomed out. This provides easy-to-seeimages, and the user may be able to retrieve his/her desired piece ofmusic content MC without any feeling of strangeness.

(3-4) Selection and Display of Music Content After Zoom-Out Display

As shown in FIG. 9, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 onlydisplays the thumbnail images SG of each year's number one piece ofmusic content MC on the content display section 8 such that they arezoomed out. When the selection dial 11 is rotated at its minimum angularincrement by the user to move the line of thumbnail images SG on thecontent display section 8 by one frame, the focus frame FC1 thensurrounds the adjoining thumbnail image SG.

At this time, under the control of the control section 20, the focusframe FC2 of the time axis bar display section TB1 surrounding five ofthe content icons CA moves by one frame. In addition, the focus frameFC4 of the time axis bar display section TB2 surrounding several of thecontent icons CA moves by several frames in accordance with the focusframe FC2.

In this manner, the audio device 1 associates the five thumbnail imagesSG zoomed out on the content display section 8 with the five contenticons CA surrounded by the focus frame FC2 of the time axis bar displaysection TB1. Accordingly, the user can easily and intuitively understandwhich period of time the representative pieces of music content MCcorresponding to the five thumbnail images SG belong to on the time axisbar display section TB1.

In addition, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 displays therelease data and music name of the piece of music content MCcorresponding to the thumbnail image SG selected by the focus frame FC1(“1979/Sunset” in this case) on the underline UL1, and its artist name(“MIZOBUTI TSUYOSHI”, in this case) under the underline UL2.

In addition, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 starts to playback, after the focus frame FC1 selects the different thumbnail imageSG, the piece of music content MC corresponding to this thumbnail imageSG.

Accordingly, when the user rotates the selection dial 11 to select thedifferent thumbnail image SG by the focus frame FC1, the control section20 of the audio device 1 outputs the sound of the piece of music contentMC corresponding to the thumbnail image SG selected by the focus frameFC1. This means that, while retrieving his/her desired piece of musiccontent MC from a bunch of representative pieces of music, the userlistens to the sound of the piece of music content MC.

(3-5) Zoom-In Display

The control section 20 of the audio device 1 for example only displaysthe thumbnail images SG (FIG. 9) corresponding to the each year'srepresentative pieces of music content MC on the content display section8, and, when the zoom dial 12 is rotated at its minimum angularincrement by the user to the left, extracts the each year's second placepieces of music content MC based on the annual ranking of the metadataMTD read from the content metadata storage section 22B of the hard diskdrive 22 as well as the each year's number one pieces of music contentMC as shown in FIG. 10. The control section 20 then displays thethumbnail images SG of the number one and two pieces of music content MCon the content display section 8.

Accordingly, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 displays thethumbnail images SG of the number one and two pieces of music content MCon the each year's ranking on the content display section 8. Compared tothe case in which only the each year's number one pieces of musiccontent MC are zoomed out (previous pages), they seem to be slightlyzoomed in to the user.

At the same time, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 leaves,by the focus frame FC2, only the content icons CA corresponding to eachyear's first and second place pieces of music content MC on the timeaxis bar display section TB1. Other content icons CA, which have beenculled from the time axis bar display section TB1, are displayed on thetime axis bar display section TB2.

In this manner, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 for exampleonly displays the thumbnail images SG of each year's representativepieces of music on the content display section 8, and, each time thezoom dial 12 is rotated through a certain angle to the left by the user,zooms in the screen little by little, which then finally leads to theall music display mode (FIG. 5).

Accordingly, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 displays thethumbnail images SG corresponding to the first place pieces of the musiccontent MC on the each year's ranking on the content display section 8,and, when the user rotates the zoom dial 12 to the left, zooms in thescreen to display the thumbnail images SG of other pieces of musiccontent MC which were also popular in the same period as therepresentative pieces of music. In this manner, the user can change thenumber of pieces of music he/she retrieves from, and therefore he/shecan find out his/her desired pieces of music content MC easily.

(3-6) Selection and Display: Classification by Artist

After the focus frame FC1 of the content display section 8 selects acertain thumbnail image SG (FIGS. 7, 8 and 10, for example), if the userpushes the menu button 9G and selects an item of “artist” on a pop-upmenu (not shown), the control section 20 of the audio device 1 reads outall the artist names of the metadata MTD about all the pieces of musiccontent MC and then extracts only the pieces of music content MC whoseartist are the same as the one selected by the focus frame FC1. Thecontrol section 20 then only reads out the thumbnail images SG of theextracted pieces of music content MC from the content storage section22A to be displayed on the content display section 8.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 11, the control section 20 of the audiodevice 1 only displays, on the content display section 8, the thumbnailimages SG corresponding to the plurality of pieces of music content MCreleased from a certain artist. If the user specifies an artist name,he/she can retrieve his/her desired piece of music content MC from amongthem.

In this case, if there are more than five pieces of music content MC ofthe artist, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 sequentiallydisplays and scrolls the thumbnail images SG, which had not beendisplayed, on the content display section 8 in response to the user'sdial operation of the selection dial 11.

In addition, the control section 20 surrounds, by the focus frame FC2 ofthe time axis bar display section TB1, an area in which there are fivecontent icons CA corresponding to five thumbnail images SG displayed onthe content display section 8. This allows the user to intuitivelyrecognize that how the pieces of music content MC corresponding to thethumbnail images SG on the content display section 8 are distributed onthe time line. By the way, in this case, the content icons CA of thepieces of music content MC of other artists are those surrounded by thefocus frame FC4 of the time axis bar display section TB2. Accordingly,in order for the user to retrieve the other artists' pieces of musiccontent MC that were released at the same time as that of a certainartist, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 allows him/her torotate the zoom dial 12 to the left to zoom in the screen.

(4) Procedure of Association Display Process

A procedure of association display process will be described withreference to a flowchart in FIG. 12. The association display processallows the thumbnail images SG, which are displayed on the contentdisplay section 8 of the front panel 7, and the content icons CA, whichare displayed on the time axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2, tocooperate with one another while being displaying.

The control section 20 of the audio device 1 starts a routine RT1 fromits start step and then proceeds to step SP1. At step SP1, the controlsection 20 reads out all the thumbnail images SG of music content MC,which may be displayed on the content display section 8, from thecontent storage section 22A of the hard disk drive 22, and keeps them onthe RAM 20C, and then proceeds to next step SP2.

At step SP2, the control section 20 reads out, from the content metadatastorage section 22B, the metadata MTD corresponding to the pieces ofmusic content MC whose thumbnail images SG were read out from thecontent storage section 22A of the hard disk drive 22, and keep them onthe RAM 20C, and then proceeds to next step SP3.

At step SP3, the control section 20 makes the thumbnail images SG, whichhave been kept on the RAM 20C (step SP1), a predetermined size, andplaces them side by side at certain intervals, and displays fivethumbnail images SG out of them on the content display section 8, andthen proceeds to step SP4.

At step SP4, the control section 20 reads out the content icons CAcorresponding to all the pieces of music content MC from the contentstorage section 22A of the hard disk drive 22, and places them on thetime axis bar display section TB1 in order of release data (i.e. inorder of time), and then proceeds to next step SP5.

At step SP5, the control section 20 checks whether the user hasperformed the zoom change operation of the zoom dial 12. If the negativeresult is obtained, this means that, instead of the zoom changeoperation of the zoom dial 12, the selection operation of the selectiondial 11 has been performed. In this case, the control section 20proceeds to step SP6. If the affirmative result is obtained, the controlsection 20 proceeds to step SP7.

At step SP6, in response to the user's dial operation of the selectiondial 11, the control section 20 changes the thumbnail image SG selectedby the focus frame FC1 by moving the thumbnail images SG on the contentdisplay section 8 by one frame of the thumbnail image SG. In accordancewith that, the control section 20 moves the focus frame FC2 of the timeaxis bar display section TB1 by one piece of the content icon CA toassociate a moving process of the thumbnail images SG (which isperformed based on the selection operation of the selection dial 11)with a moving process of the focus frame FC2, and then proceeds to nextstep SP8.

At step SP7, the control section 20 sequentially culls, in response tothe rotated angle of the zoom dial 12, the low-priority pieces of musiccontent MC to extract the pieces of music content MC. The controlsection 20 then displays only the thumbnail images SG corresponding tothe extracted pieces of music content MC on the content display section8. The control section 20 also changes the selection area of the focusframe FC2 on the time axis bar display section TB1, and the selectionarea of the focus frame FC4 on the time axis bar display section TB2 toassociate the zoom change display process of the thumbnail images SG(which is performed based on the zoom change operation of the zoom dial12) with the selection area change process of the focus frames FC2 andFC4, and then proceeds to next step SP8.

At step SP8, the control section 8 plays back and outputs the piece ofmusic content MC corresponding to the thumbnail image SG which isselected by the focus frame FC1 after the moving process of thethumbnail images SG (step SP6) and the zoom change display process ofthe thumbnail images SG (step SP7) are performed, and then returns tostep SP5 to repeat subsequent processes.

In this manner, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 performs,in response to the user's dial operation of the selection dial 11 andzoom dial 12, the moving process of the thumbnail images SG on thecontent display section 8 and the zoom change display process. Inaccordance with that, the control section 20 also performs the selectionarea change process of the focus frames FC2 and FC4 on the time axis bardisplay sections TB1 and TB2.

(5) Cull and Display (5-1) Calculation of Priority

By the way, as mentioned above, in a case in which the audio device 1performs the zoom change display, the audio device 1 only displays, onthe content display section 8, the thumbnail images SG of a part ofpieces of music content MC out of all the pieces of music content MC.Therefore, the audio device 1 may need to extract some of the thumbnailimages SG to be displayed.

To do that, the audio device 1 calculates priority evaluation values PVbased on the metadata MTD stored along with each piece of music content,and then, based on the priority evaluation values PV, extracts thethumbnail images SG to be displayed on the content display section 8.

Actually, as shown in FIG. 13, besides attribute data of music contentMC such as music names, artist names and release date, the audio device1 stores other kind of data in the content metadata storage section 22Bof the hard disk drive 22 as metadata MTD: popularity rating data likethe total sales numbers AS, the annual ranking Ry, the monthly rankingRm and the weekly ranking Rw, and preference rating data like userrating UR with 9 ratings input by the users.

By the way, in the annual ranking, each piece of music content MC isranked within first to 100th. In the monthly and weekly rankings, eachpiece of music content MC is ranked within first to 10th. In the userrating UR, each piece of music content MC is ranked with 9 ratings: thelowest rank is “−3,” and the highest rank is “+5”. The user rating UR isadjustable, in accordance with user's preference, by pushing the userrating button 9F (FIG. 2).

Based on the following formulas (1a) to (1d), the audio device 1calculates a user weighting Wu, an annual rank weighting Wy, a monthlyweighting Wm and a weekly rank weighting Ww using the popularity ratingdata and the preference rating data.

Wu=UR+4   (1a):

Wy=(the total numbers of annual ranking)−Ry   (1b):

Wm=(the total numbers of monthly ranking)−Rm   (1c):

Ww=(the total numbers of weekly ranking)−Rw   (1d):

In addition, in accordance with the following formula (2), the audiodevice 1 calculates the priority evaluation value PV by multiplying theuser weighting Wu, the annual rank weighting Wy, the monthly weightingWm and the weekly rank weighting Ww by predetermined coefficients Fu,Fy, Fm and Fw and adding the total sales numbers AS to them. In thiscase, the priority evaluation value PV is greater than zero.

PV=Fu×Wu+Fy×Wy+Fm×Wm+Fw×Ww+AS   (2):

The relationship between the coefficients Fu, Fy, Fm and Fw is asfollows:

Fu>Fy>Fm>Fw   (3):

Accordingly, this means that, as for the priority evaluation value PV,the user weighting Wu, the annual rank weighting Wy, the monthlyweighting Wm and the weekly rank weighting Ww are sifted against thetotal sales numbers AS. FIG. 14 shows the configuration of the resultingdata.

When the audio device 1 acquires a new piece of music content MC fromthe optical disc 4 or the small memory card 6 (FIG. 1) and stores it inthe content storage section 22A of the hard disk drive 22, the audiodevice 1 calculates its priority evaluation value PV and then stores itin the content metadata storage section 22B as metadata MTD.

(5-2) Cull and Display of Thumbnail Images

For instance, as shown in FIG. 15, assume that all the pieces of musiccontent MC are pieces of content A to content Z. The control section 20of the audio device 1 recognizes the pieces of content A to Z in orderof release date (the row of pieces of content A to Z in order of releasedate is also referred to as an “all content row LC0”). The controlsection 20 extracts the user's desired pieces of music content MC byculling the pieces of music content MC with the low priority evaluationvalues PV from the all content row LC0. The control section 20 onlydisplays five thumbnail images SG corresponding to the extracted piecesof music content MC on the content display section 8.

The control section 20 of the audio device 1 can be set to one of thefollowing five modes: an “all display level LV1” where the thumbnailimages SG corresponding to all the pieces of music content MC aredisplayed with the all display mode (FIG. 5); a “weekly display levelLV2” where the thumbnail image SG of the piece of music content MCranked number one at the weekly ranking is displayed; a “monthly displaylevel LV3” where the thumbnail image SG of the piece of music content MCranked number one at the monthly ranking is displayed; an “annualdisplay level LV4” where the thumbnail image SG of the piece of musiccontent MC ranked number one at the annual ranking is displayed; and a“highest evaluation display level LV5” where the thumbnail image SG ofthe piece of music content MC with the highest evaluation (“+5”) of theuser rating UR is displayed.

In this case, besides those five display levels LV, there might be adisplay level LV, where the thumbnail images SG of the pieces of musiccontent MC ranked number one and two at the annual ranking aredisplayed. However, for ease of explanation, the description about itwill be omitted.

The control section 20 sets the threshold values TH about the priorityevaluation values PV: five threshold values TH1 to TH5 each of whichcorresponds to one of the “all display level LV1” to “highest evaluationdisplay level LV5”.

In fact, when the control section 20 receives a rotation signal SR2(which is based on the rotated angle of the zoom dial 12) as a result ofthe zoom change operation of the zoom dial 12, the control section 20selects, in response to the rotation signal SR2, one of the thresholdvalues TH1 to TH5 (the selected one will be referred to as an “extractedthreshold value THA”).

The control section 20 subsequently culls, out of all pieces of musiccontent MC, the pieces of music content MC (also referred to as “culledmusic content MCZ (or exclusion music content MCZ)”) whose priorityevaluation values PV are less than the extracted threshold value THA toextract the pieces of music content MC (also referred to as “extractedmusic content MCA”) whose priority evaluation values PV are greater orequal to the extracted threshold value THA. At this time, the controlsection 20 displays, on the content display section 8, five thumbnailimages corresponding to the five pieces of extracted music content MCAsuch that the pieces of music content MC (also referred to as “selectedmusic content MCS”) selected by the focus frame FC1 of the contentdisplay section 8 are centered on. In this manner the control section 20switches the display level in response to the zoom change operation toperform the zoom change display.

By the way, the control section 20 has set the threshold value TH1 tozero. Accordingly, the control section 20 at the “all display level LV1”extracts all pieces of music content MC as extracted music content MCAbecause the priority evaluation values PV of all the pieces of musiccontent MC are greater than the extracted threshold value THA, or thethreshold value TH1.

If the piece of content J in the all content row LC0 is selected by thefocus frame FC1 as the selected music content MCS and the controlsection 20 is being set to the all display level LV1, the controlsection 20 displays, on the content display section 8, the fivethumbnail images SGH to SGL corresponding to the pieces of content H toL (these pieces of content H to L are collectively referred to as a“first level content row LC1 (FIG. 15)”) that are located just beforeand after the piece of selected music content MCS (or the piece ofcontent J) on the all content row LC0: the five thumbnail images SGH toSGL are placed side by side from the left to the right in order ofrelease date as shown in FIG. 16A (this row of the thumbnail images SGHto SGL is also referred to as a “first level image row LG1”).

When the zoom change operation of the zoom dial 12 is performed toperform the zoom out display (i.e. to increase the display level), thecontrol section 20 selects the threshold value TH2 corresponding to theweekly display level LV2, and, as shown in FIG. 16B, extracts, from theall content row LC0, the piece of content J (which is the piece of theselected music content MCS, being selected by the focus frame FC1) as amain one and other pieces of content G, I, J, M and R whose priorityevaluation values PV are greater or equal to the threshold value TH2(the row of pieces of music content MC (G, I, J, M and R) arecollectively referred to as a “second level content row LC2 (FIG. 15)”).The control section 20 then displays, on the content display section 8,the thumbnail images SGG, SGI, SGJ, SGM and SGR corresponding to thepieces of content G, I, J, M and R: the five thumbnail images SGG, SGI,SGJ, SGM and SGR are placed side by side from the left to the right inorder of release date (this row of the thumbnail images SGG, SGI, SGJ,SGM and SGR is also referred to as a “second level image row LG2”).

Accordingly, the content display section 8 only displays the thumbnailimages SGG, SGI, SGJ, SGM and SGR of the pieces of the extracted musiccontent MCA as a result of removing the pieces of the culled musiccontent MCZ (i.e. the pieces of content H, K, L and the like) whosepriority evaluation values PV are less than the threshold value TH2 fromthe all content row LC0 (FIG. 15). In this case, the size of eachthumbnail image SGG, SGI, SGJ, SGM and SGR is almost the same as that ofthe all display level LV1.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 16B, in a case in which there is the pieceof the culled music content MCZ (the piece of content H, for example) onthe all content row LC0 between the pieces of the extracted musiccontent MCA (the pieces of content G and I, for example) whosethumbnails images SG are right nest to one another on the second levelimage row LG2, the control section 20 displays a cull mark MT (MT1, MT2and MT3) between the thumbnail images SG corresponding to the pluralityof pieces of the extracted music content MCA displayed on the contentdisplay section 8 to indicate the fact that there is the pieces ofculled music content MCZ removed.

For instance, the cull mark MT (MT1, MT2 and MT3) includes one to threevertical lines each of which is right next one another. The number oflines of the cull mark MT is determined based on the number of pieces ofthe culled music content MCZ: the cull mark MT1 with one line means thatthere is only one piece of the culled music content MCZ; the cull markMT2 with two lines means that there are two pieces of the culled musiccontent MCZ; and the cull mark MT3 with three lines means that there arethree pieces of culled music content MCZ.

Accordingly, on the second level image row LG2 where the pieces ofimages are placed in the same order as the all content row LC0 (i.e. inorder of release date), the audio device 1 notifies the user of, by thecull mark MT, the fact that there are the pieces of the culled musiccontent MCZ between the pieces of extracted music content MCA whosethumbnail images SG are right nest to one another, and the approximatenumber of pieces of the culled music content MCZ removed.

By the way, if the zoom dial 12 is rotated several times to the right asthe zoom change operation, the control section 20 of the audio device 1sequentially increases the display level LV, for example, the alldisplay level LV1, the weekly display level LV2, the monthly displaylevel LV3, the annual display level LV4 and the highest evaluationdisplay level LV5 in that order.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 16A, in a case in which the contentdisplay section 8 is displaying the first level image row LG1, and thepiece of content J is being selected by the focus frame FC1, and thenthe control section 20 receives a rotation signal SR1 (which correspondsto the rotated angle of the selection dial 11) as a result of rotatingthe selection dial 11 to the right, the control section 20 switches, inresponse to the rotation signal SR1, what the focus frame FC1 isselecting (i.e. the piece of the selected music content MCS) from thepiece of content J to the piece of content K.

In this case, the focus frame FC1 is fixedly displayed on the contentdisplay section 8. Therefore, the first level image row LG1 is scrolledto the left one by one to display new thumbnail images SG. The focusframe FC1 is then placed on the thumbnail image SGK corresponding to thepiece of content K. In this manner, the first level image row LG1 isupdated.

In this manner, with the audio device 1, the selection operation ofselecting thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8 by theselection dial 11 or the zoom dial 12, and the interface action of theaudio device 1 in association with the selection operation and zoomchange operation are performed while the content display section 8 isdisplaying them as a display screen.

In a case in which the display level LV is set to the all display levelLV1 as shown in FIG. 17A, and the piece of content K is being selectedby the focus frame FC1, and then the dial operation of the zoom dial 12is performed to perform the zoom out display, as shown in FIG. 17B, thecontrol section 20 displays, on the center, the thumbnail image SGK ofthe piece of content K which is equivalent to the piece of the selectedmusic content MCS selected by the focus frame FC1, and then selects thethreshold value TH2 corresponding to the weekly display level LV2. Thecontrol section 20 subsequently extracts, from the all content row LC0,the pieces of content I, J, M and R whose priority evaluation values PVare greater or equal to the threshold value TH2, and then displays thecorresponding thumbnail images SG1, SGJ, SGM and SGR on the contentdisplay section 8.

That is to say, when the user performs the zoom change operation to dothe zoom out display, the control section 20 displays not only thethumbnail images SG corresponding to the pieces of music content MCwhose priority evaluation values PV are greater or equal to theextracted threshold value THA, but the thumbnail image SG correspondingto the piece of the selected music content MCS selected by the focusframe FC1 regardless of its priority evaluation value PV (the thumbnailimage SGK is displayed, in this case). Accordingly, even if thedisplayed information is updated due to the zoom out display, thecontrol section 20 allows the user to keep an eye on the thumbnail imageSG corresponding to the piece of the selected music content MCS.

When the piece of the selected music content MCS selected by the focusframe FC1 is specified as a operation target for various kinds ofoperation, the control section 20 also recognizes the following items asthe operation targets: all the pieces of the culled music content MCZbetween the piece of the selected music content MCS and the piece of theextracted music content MCA right next to the piece of the selectedmusic content MCS on the content row LC (LC0, LC1, or LC2) correspondingto the current display level LV.

For instance, the display level LV of the control section 20 is set tothe weekly display level LV2 as shown in FIG. 16B, and the piece ofcontent J is selected by the focus frame FC1 as the operation target. Inthis case, when the control section 20 accepts an operation instructionof repeatedly playing back the pieces of music content MC, the controlsection 20 recognizes the pieces of content K and L, which were culledas the pieces of the culled music content MCZ, as the operation targetto be repeatedly played back. The control section 20 thereforerepeatedly plays back the pieces of content J, K, L in order of J, K, L,J, K, L, . . . .

For instance, the content display section 8 displays the second levelimage row LG2 as shown in FIG. 16B, and the piece of content J isselected by the focus frame FC1. In this case, when the control section20 of the audio device 1 for example receives the rotation signal SR1(which corresponds to the rotated angle of the selection dial 11) as aresult of the rotation of the selection dial 11 to the right, thecontrol section 20 switches, in response to the rotation signal SR1,what the focus frame FC is selecting to the piece of content M which ison the right side of the piece of content J on the second level contentrow LC2, as shown in FIG. 17C.

In addition, if the pieces of the culled music content MCZ have beenremoved from between the pieces of the extracted music content MCAcorresponding to the pieces of thumbnail images SG on the updated secondlevel image row LG2, the control section 20 of the audio device 1displays, in response to the number of pieces of the culled musiccontent MCZ, the cull mark MT (MT1, MT2 or MT3) between the thumbnailimages SG corresponding to the pieces of the extracted music content MCAon the content display section 8.

In this manner, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 selects, inresponse to the user's dial operation of the zoom dial 12, the extractedthreshold value THA, and extracts, from the all content row LC0, thepieces of the extracted music content MCA whose priority evaluationvalues PV are greater or equal to the extracted threshold value THA suchthat the thumbnail image SG of the piece of the selected music contentMCS becomes its center, and displays the thumbnail images SGcorresponding to the pieces of the extracted music content MCA on thecontent display section 8 along with the cull mark MT indicating thefact that there are the pieces of the culled music content MCZ.

(6) Thumbnail Image Display Process

A thumbnail image display process, where the audio device 1 displays thethumbnail images SG on the content display section 8, will be described.In this case, the thumbnail image display process is executed when thezoom change operation of the zoom dial 12 is performed, and when theselection operation of the selection dial 11 is performed.

(6-1) Display Update Process by Zoom Change Operation

After the control section 20 of the audio device 1 is powered on, thecontrol section 20 starts a procedure of a display update process of thezoom change operation RT2 (FIG. 18), and then proceeds to step SP11.

At step SP11, when the user performs the zoom change operation of thezoom dial 12, the control section 20 receives the rotation signal SR2from the operation input section 27, and then proceeds to next stepSP12.

At step SP12, based on the current display level LV (the all displaylevel LV1, for example) and the rotation signal SR2 received from theoperation input section 27, the control section 20 is switched to thenew display level LV (the weekly display level LV2, for example), andselects the new threshold value TH (the threshold value TH2, forexample) as the extracted threshold value THA for the new display levelLV, and then proceeds to a subroutine, or a procedure of a thumbnailimage display process SRT1.

After starting the procedure of the thumbnail image display processSRT1, the control section 20 proceeds to step SP21, as shown in FIG. 19.At step SP21, the control section 20 selects one piece of music contentMC (the piece of content J, for example) from the all content row LC0,and decides the corresponding thumbnail image SG (the thumbnail imageSGJ, for example) as the one to be displayed on the approximate centerof the content display section 8. At the same time, the control section20 sets that piece of music content MC as the start point for searchingfor the piece of music content MC that should be displayed right next tothe center thumbnail image in accordance with the display level MC. Thecontrol section 20 subsequently proceeds to next step SP22.

At step SP22, the control section 20 decides which direction the controlsection 20 will perform the retrieval process of retrieving the piecesof the extracted music content MCA on the all content row LC0 from thestart point: the retrieval direction is, in this case, set to left, orthe direction of going back in the past on the release date. The controlsection 20 subsequently proceeds to next step SP23.

At step SP23, the control section 20 perform an initialization processof setting a parameter j to zero: the parameter j is used to count thenumber of thumbnail images SG displayed on the both sides of thethumbnail image SG corresponding to the piece of music content MC thathas been set as the start point. The control section 20 subsequentlyproceeds to next step SP24.

At step SP24, for example, the control section 20 performs aninitialization process of setting a parameter i to −1: the parameter iis used to indicate the number of pieces of the culled music content MCZthat are to be removed without being displayed on the both sides of thethumbnail image SG corresponding to the piece of music content MC thathas been set as the start point. The control section 20 subsequentlyproceeds to next step SP25.

At step SP25, out of the all content row LC0, the control section 20focuses the piece of music content MC that is right next to the piece ofmusic content MC that has been set as the start point in the retrievaldirection, and reads out its metadata MTD. The control section 20 alsoincrements the parameter i, and then proceeds to next step SP26. Forexample, the control section20 focuses the piece of content I on theright of the piece of content J (the start point is the piece of contentJ, for example), and sets the parameter i to zero.

At step SP26, the control section 20 checks whether the priorityevaluation value PV included in the metadata MTD of the piece of musiccontent MC focused at step SP25 is greater or equal to the extractedthreshold value THA which is based on the display level LV.

The affirmative result at step SP26 means that the priority evaluationvalue PV of the piece of music content MC focused at step SP25 isgreater or equal to the extracted threshold value THA, and that thispiece of music content MC is equivalent to the extracted music contentMCA. In this case, the control section 20 proceeds to next step SP27.

The negative result at step SP26 means that the priority evaluationvalue PV of the piece of music content MC focused is less than theextracted threshold value THA, and that this piece of music content MCis equivalent to the culled music content MCZ. In this case, the controlsection 20 returns to step SP25 to keep performing the retrieval processof retrieving the piece of music content MC that should be displayed inthe retrieval direction of the piece of music content MC that has beenset as the start point until it finds out the piece of music content MCwhose priority evaluation value PV is greater or equal to the extractedthreshold value THA.

At this time, the control section 20 at step SP25 focuses the next pieceof music content MC which is in the retrieval direction of the piece ofmusic content MC equivalent to the culled music content MCZ, and alsoincrements the parameter i.

At step SP27, because it becomes evident at step SP26 that the piece ofmusic content MC focused at step SP25 is equivalent to the extractedmusic content MCA to be displayed on the content display section 8, thecontrol section 20 increments the parameter j, and decides the thumbnailimage SG of the focused piece of music content MC to be displayed on aposition which is j pieces away from the piece of music content MC thathas been set as the start point in the retrieval direction. The controlsection subsequently moves to next step SP28.

At step SP28, the control section 20 checks whether the parameter i isgreater or equal to one. The affirmative result at step SP28 means thatat least one piece of the culled music content MCZ has been alreadyremoved until it finds out the thumbnail image SG that should bedisplayed right next to the thumbnail image SG corresponding to thepiece of music content MC set as the start point. In this case, thecontrol section 20 proceeds to next step SP29.

In this case, the parameter i is initially set to −1. Therefore theparameter i shows the number of pieces of the culled music content MCZremoved.

At step SP29, the control section 20 displays, in accordance with theparameter i, the cull mark MT (MT1, MT2 or MT3) on the content displaysection 8 such that the cull mark MT is placed between the thumbnailimage SG set as the start point and the thumbnail image SG of the pieceof the extracted music content MCA adjacent to the start-point thumbnailimage SG. The control section 20 subsequently proceeds to next stepSP30.

The negative result at step SP28 means that it is possible to detect thefact that the piece of music content MC right next to the piece of musiccontent MC set as the start point is the extracted music content MCA,and that any pieces of music content have not been removed as the culledmusic content MCZ. In this case, the control section 20 proceeds to stepSP30 without displaying the cull mark MT on the content display section8.

At step SP30, the control section 20 checks whether the parameter j isgreater or equal to two: it checks whether the two thumbnail images SGhave been selected to be displayed in the retrieval direction behind thethumbnail image SG corresponding to the piece of music content MC set asthe start point.

The negative result at step SP30 means that the two thumbnail images SGhave not been determined to be displayed in the current retrievaldirection, and it may continue the retrieval process until the twothumbnail images SG are selected. In this case, the control section 20returns to step SP24.

The affirmative result at step SP30 means that the two thumbnail imagesSG have been determined to be displayed in the current retrievaldirection, and it may not continue the retrieval process to find morethumbnail images SG. In this case, the control section 20 proceeds tonext step SP31.

At step SP31, the control section 20 checks whether the currentretrieval direction is the right of the start point, or the right of thepiece of music content MC set as the start point. The negative result atstep SP31 means that the retrieval direction has been the left of thepiece of music content MC set as the start point. It means that the twothumbnail images SG of the two pieces of extracted music content MCAthat should be displayed on the right side of the start-point thumbnailimage SG have not been determined. In this case, the control section 20proceeds to next step SP32.

At step SP32, the control section 20 switches the retrieval directionfrom left to right: it is the direction of going forward in the futureon the release date with respect to the piece of music content MC set asthe start point. The control section 20 then returns to step SP23 todetermine the two thumbnail images SG that should be displayed on theright side of the thumbnail image SG corresponding to the piece of musiccontent MC set as the start point.

The affirmative result at step SP31 means that the four thumbnail imagesSG to be displayed on the both sides of the thumbnail image SGcorresponding to the piece of music content MC set as the start pointhave been determined. In this case, the control section 20 proceeds tonext step SP33.

At step SP33, the control section 20 supplies the five thumbnail imagesSG determined at step SP31 to the video controller 26A of the displaysection 26 (FIG. 2) to display the five thumbnail images SG on thecontent display section 8. The control section 20 subsequently proceedsto next step SP34 to end the procedure of the thumbnail image displayprocess SRT1. After that, the control section 20 returns to step SP11 ofthe procedure of the display update process RT2 of the zoom changeoperation (FIG. 18) to repeat a series of process.

By the way, under the control of the control section 20 of the audiodevice 1, a nonvolatile memory (not shown) memorizes the followinginformation: the information about which piece of music content MC (theselected music content MCS) the focus frame FC1 was selectingimmediately before the power supply was cut (the piece of content J, forexample); and the information about the display level LV at that time(the all display level LV1, for example). After the audio device 1 ispowered on again, the control section 20 reads out the information fromthe nonvolatile memory and uses it as initialization values about theselected music content MSC and the display level LV. This allows theaudio device 1 to display the same items, such as thumbnail images SG,on the content display section 8 as those displayed before the powersupply was cut.

(6-2) Display Update Process by Selection Operation

The control section 20 starts a procedure of a display update processRT3 of the selection operation (FIG. 20) when the audio device 1 ispowered on. The control section 20 subsequently proceeds to step SP41.At step SP41, the control section 20 receives the rotation signal SR1from the operation input section 27 as a result of the user's selectionoperation of the selection dial 11, and then proceeds to next step SP42.

At step SP42, the control section 20 sets, in response to the rotationsignal SR1 received from the operation input section 27, the pieces ofthe extracted music content MCA, which are placed on the right or leftside of the piece of the selected music content MCS selected by thefocus frame FC1 on the content row LC of this display level LV, as thenew pieces of the selected music content MCS, and then proceeds to asubroutine, or the procedure of the thumbnail image display processSRT1.

For example, the display level LV is set to the weekly display levelLV2, and the piece of content J is the selected music content MCS. Inthis case, when the user rotates the selection dial 11 to the right, thecontrol section 20 switches what the focus frame FC1 is selecting (i.e.the selected music content MCS) from the piece of content J to the pieceof content M which is on the right side of the piece of content J on thesecond level content row LC2 (FIG. 15) corresponding to the weeklydisplay level LV2.

In the procedure of the thumbnail image display process SRT1, thecontrol section 20 displays, on the content display section 8, the fivethumbnail images SG the center of which is the thumbnail image SG of thepiece of the selected music content MCS as mentioned above, and thenreturns to step SP41 to repeat a series of processes.

(7) Operation and Effect

In the audio device 1 with the above configuration, the control section20 generates the all content row LC0 in which all pieces of musiccontent MC are arranged in order of release date. The control section 20also calculates the priority evaluation value PV of each piece of musiccontent MC. The control section 20 selects the extracted threshold valueTHA in accordance with the display level LV set by the user's zoomchange operation. The control section 20 subsequently sets the piece ofthe selected music content MCS selected by the focus frame FC1 as thestart point, and then extracts, from the all content row LC0, the piecesof the extracted music content MCA whose priority evaluation values PVare greater or equal to the extracted threshold value THA. The controlsection 20 subsequently displays, on the content display section 8, thethumbnail images SG corresponding to the pieces of the extracted musiccontent MCA and the cull mark MT indicating that there are pieces of theculled music content MCZ such that the thumbnail image SG correspondingto the piece of the selected music content MCS is displayed on thecenter.

Accordingly, regardless of the display level LV set, the maximum numberof thumbnail images SG to be displayed on the content display section 8of the audio device 1 is always the same. In addition, the audio device1 does not change the size of thumbnail images SG on the content displaysection 8. This provides easy-to-see thumbnail images SG.

In addition, the audio device 1 removes, from the all content row LC0,the pieces of the culled music content MCZ whose priority evaluationvalues PV are less than the extracted threshold value THA, and displaysthe thumbnail images SG corresponding to the rest of them (or the piecesof the extracted music content MCA) on the content display section 8.This maintains relative order of each piece of music content MC withrespect to the order of release date, and zooms out only the thumbnailimages SG corresponding to the pieces of music content MC that have thehigh priority evaluation values PV and the user may be fond of. Inreality, only five thumbnail images are displayed, however, it seems tothe user that the display area for displaying the pieces of musiccontent MC becomes enlarged.

That is to say, when the audio device 1 gradually increases, in responseto the zoom change operation of the zoom dial 12, the display levels LVfrom the all display level LV1 to zoom out, the rotated angle of thezoom dial 12 becomes correlated with the display levels LV. Therefore,in response to the rotated angle of the zoom dial 12, the audio device 1sequentially culls the pieces of music content MC whose priorityevaluation values PV are lower. This user interface allows the user tointuitively operate.

In addition, when the selection operation of the selection dial 11 isperformed while the display level LV is high, the audio device 1 setsthe piece of music content MC that is right next to the piece of theselected music content MCS on the content row LC corresponding to thecurrent display level LV as new piece of the selected music content MCS.This means that it moves from the piece of the selected music contentMCS on the all content row LC0 (FIG. 15) to the piece of the extractedmusic content MCA that is closest to this piece of the selected musiccontent MCS by skipping the pieces of the culled music content MCZ.Accordingly, one operation moves more in comparison with a low displaylevel where displayed information is zoomed in.

In order for the user to select a different piece of the selected musiccontent MCS by the focus frame FC1, the audio device 1 allows the userto perform both the selection operation of the selection dial 11 and thezoom change operation of the zoom dial 12. This improves efficiencycompared to an audio device in which only the selection operation isallowed.

For example, on the audio device 1, to change the piece of the selectedmusic content MCS by the focus frame FC1 from the piece of content J tothe piece of content S on the content display section 8 where thethumbnail images SG are displayed in the all display level LV1 as shownin FIG. 16A, the user has to perform the selection operation nine timeslike J, K, L, . . . , S if he/she is only allowed to perform theselection operation of the selection dial 11.

By contrast, on the audio device 1 where the zoom change operation ofthe zoom dial 12 is allowed, the user switches the display levels LVfrom the all display level LV1 (FIG. 16A) to the weekly display levelLV2 (FIG. 16B) by the zoom change operation (of zooming out, in thiscase), and performs the selection operation two times to moves the focusframe FC1 from the piece of content J to the piece of content R as showin FIG. 21A, and switches the display levels LV to the all display levelLV1 by the zoom change operation of zoom dial 12 (to zoom in, in thiscase) as shown in FIG. 21B, and then performs the selection operation ofthe selection dial 11 one time to move the focus frame FC1 from thepiece of content R to the piece of the content S as shown in FIG. 21C.In this manner, performing the operations five times, including two zoomchange operations and three move operations, can select his/her desiredpiece of music content. The user can select his/her desired piece ofmusic content with easy and short term operation.

In reality, the audio device 1 selects, in response to the dialoperation of the zoom dial 12, the number one pieces of music content MCon the annual ranking, monthly ranking, or weekly ranking, and displaysthe thumbnail images SG corresponding to the selected pieces of musiccontent MC on the content display section 8 in order of time. Thisallows the audio device 1 to classify the thumbnail images SG by year,month, week or the like and zoom out them on the content display section8. In addition, the audio device 1 can change the piece of the selectedmusic content MCS on each display level LV. Accordingly, the user caneasily retrieve his/her desired piece of music content MC from manypieces of music content MC (thousands to ten thousands of music contentMC, for example).

Furthermore, the audio device 1 displays, between the adjoiningthumbnail images SG on the content display section 8, the cull mark(FIG. 16B) indicating that there is a piece of the culled music contentMCZ removed from the all content row LC0. Accordingly, the user canvisually and intuitively recognize that there is the piece of the culledmusic content MCZ between two pieces of the extracted music content MCAindicated by the adjoining thumbnail images SG.

Furthermore, one of the cull marks MT1 to MT3 is displayed in accordancewith the number of pieces of the culled music content MCZ removed fromthe all content row LC0. Therefore, the user can understand theapproximate number of pieces of the culled music content MCZ. Thisimproves the efficiency of retrieving the desired piece of music contentMC, and makes it possible to complete the retrieval process in a shortperiod of time.

Furthermore, on the audio device 1, when the user performs the zoomchange operation to do the zoom out display, the control section 20displays not only the thumbnail images SG corresponding to the pieces ofmusic content MC whose priority evaluation values PV are greater orequal to the extracted threshold value THA, but the thumbnail image SGcorresponding to the piece of the selected music content MCS selected bythe focus frame FC1 regardless of its priority evaluation value PV.Accordingly, even if the piece of the selected music content MCS is notsuitable for the display level LV after the zoom change operation, thecontrol section 20 allows the user to keep an eye on the thumbnail imageSG corresponding to the piece of the selected music content MCS.

Furthermore, in a case in which the piece of the selected music contentMCS is specified for the operation target of various kinds ofoperations, the audio device 1 also recognizes, on the content row LC ofthe current display level, all pieces of the culled music content MCZbetween the piece of the selected music content MCS and the next pieceof the extracted music content MCA as the operation target. Accordingly,for example, in a case in which the audio device 1 repeatedly plays backor removes the pieces of music content MC, the user can specify aplurality of pieces of music content MC as target at one time withoutspecifying them one by one.

The above configuration makes this possible: the control section 20 ofthe audio device 1 selects the extracted threshold value THA inaccordance with the display level LV set by the user's zoom changeoperation of the zoom dial 12. The control section 20 subsequently setsthe piece of the selected music content MCS as the start point, and thenextracts, from the all content row LC0, the pieces of the extractedmusic content MCA whose priority evaluation values PV are greater orequal to the extracted threshold value THA. The control section 20subsequently displays, on the content display section 8, the thumbnailimages SG corresponding to the pieces of the extracted music content MCand the cull mark MT indicating that there are pieces of the culledmusic content MCZ such that the thumbnail image SG corresponding to thepiece of the selected music content MCS is displayed on the center. Thismaintains the relative order of each piece of music content MC, andenlarges only the thumbnail images SG corresponding to the pieces ofmusic content MC with the high priority evaluation values PV, which theuser may be fond of, so that the user can easily see them.

(8) Other Embodiment

In the above-noted embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16B, the cull mark MTwith one to three vertical lines (these lines are next to one another inthe horizontal direction) is displayed between the thumbnail images SG.However the present invention is not limited to this. Another shape ofcull mark MT may be displayed near each thumbnail image SG.

For example, as shown in FIG. 22A, the cull mark MT with one to threehorizontal lines (these lines are next to one another in the verticaldirection) may be displayed below each thumbnail image SG, and thenumber of lines may vary according to the number of pieces of the culledmusic content MCZ. As shown in FIG. 22B, one to three objects in apredetermined shape (in the shape of circle, triangle or the like) maybe displayed below each thumbnail image SG, and the number of objectsmay vary according to the number of pieces of the culled music contentMCZ. As shown in FIG. 22C, the cull mark MT, which provides visualeffects as if there are other thumbnail images SG behind each thumbnailimage SG, may be displayed, and the number of thumbnail images behindmay vary according to the number of pieces of the culled music contentMCZ.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 22D, the cull mark MT in a predeterminedshape (in the shape of rectangle, for example) may be displayed betweenthe thumbnail images SG, and its color and brightness may vary accordingto the number of pieces of the culled music content MCZ. As shown inFIG. 22E, the cull mark MT with one vertical line may be displayedbetween the thumbnail images SG, and its length may vary according tothe number of pieces of the culled music content MCZ. As shown in FIG.22F, the cull mark MT in a predetermined shape (in the shape of circle)may be displayed, and its size may vary according to the number ofpieces of the culled music content MCZ. In this case, the distancebetween the thumbnail images SG may vary according to the size of thecull mark MT.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the number of verticallines of the cull mark MT indicates the approximate number of pieces ofthe culled music content MCZ. However, the present invention is notlimited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 23A, the cull mark MTwith numerical numbers may be displayed below the thumbnail images SG.In this case, the numerical characters may directly indicate the numberof pieces of the culled music content MCZ. As shown in FIG. 23B, thecull mark MT with several vertical lines and the numerical charactersmay be displayed.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the sizes of the thumbnailimages SG on the content display section 8 are the same. However thepresent invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 24Acorresponding to FIG. 21B, the horizontal and vertical size of thumbnailimages SG may be changed: the thumbnail images SGP with reduced lengthand the thumbnail images SGR with reduced width may be displayed.

In this case, the center of each thumbnail image SG displayed on thecontent display section 8 may be fixed as shown in FIG. 24A.Alternatively, the distances between the thumbnail images SG may bealways constant.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiment, the focus frame FC isfixedly displayed on the substantially center of the content displaysection 8. However the present invention is not limited to this. Forexample, the focus frame FC1 may be displayed on the rightmost orleftmost thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8. Insteadof the focus frame fixedly displayed, the focus frame FC1 may be movefrom side to side in accordance with the selection operation of theselection dial 11.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the pieces of the extractedmusic content MCA are extracted, in accordance with the formula (2), bycomparing the priority evaluation value PV whose data configuration islike one shown in FIG. 14 with the extracted threshold value THA.However the present invention is not limited to this. The pieces of theextracted music content MCA may be extracted using evaluation valuescalculated by other methods.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the cull mark MT isdisplayed on the content display section 8 based on the pieces of theculled music content MCZ. However the present invention is not limitedto this. The cull mark MT may be not displayed.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the display level LV isswitched between the five levels: the all display level LV1, the weeklydisplay level LV2, the monthly display level LV3, the annual displaylevel LV4 and the highest evaluation display level LV5. However thepresent invention is not limited to this. The display level may includefour or less, or six or more levels.

In this case, besides the all display level LV1, the weekly displaylevel LV2, the monthly display level LV3, the annual display level LV4and the highest evaluation display level LV5, there may be a displaylevel LV that extracts the number one and second place pieces of musiccontent MC on each annual ranking to display their thumbnail images SG.In addition, there may be a display level LV that extracts the piece ofmusic content MC whose total sales during each period of ten years istop to display their thumbnail images SG. In this manner, there may bevarious kinds of display level LV.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the pieces of the extractedmusic content MCA are extracted from the all content row LC0 using theextraction conditions such as thresholds TH1 to TH5. However the presentinvention is not limited to this. For example, the pieces of the culledmusic content MCZ may be culled (removed) from the all content row LC0using the thresholds TH1 to TH5 as cull condition.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the cull mark MT variesaccording to the number of pieces of the culled music content MCZ.However the present invention is not limited to this. The cull mark MTmay be always the same regardless of the number of pieces of the culledmusic content MCZ.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, all the pieces of musiccontent MC are arranged in order of release data like the all contentrow LC0 (FIG. 15). However the present invention is not limited to this.The pieces of music content MC may be displayed in various orders, suchas Japanese syllabary order, alphabetical order, Greek alphabeticalorder, order of total sales, order of tempo, and the like.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, five thumbnail images SGare displayed on the content display section 8. However the presentinvention is not limited to this. The content display section 8 maydisplay four or less, or six or more thumbnail images SG in accordancewith the size and shape of the content display section 8. In this case,the size of thumbnail image SG may be the same even if the display levelLV is switched after the zoom change operation.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, five thumbnail images SGare displayed on the content display section 8 side by side inhorizontal direction, and the time axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2are displayed side by side in horizontal direction. However the presentinvention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 25, thecontent display section 8, the time axis bar display sections TB1 andTB2 and the like may be placed side by side in vertical direction. Inaccordance with that, the thumbnail images SB may be also displayed invertical direction, and the cull mark MT may be displayed between thethumbnail images SG.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiment, the time axis bar displaysections TB1 and TB2 (FIG. 5 and the like) are placed linearly on thefront panel 7. However the present invention is not limited to this. Thecurved time axis bar display sections TB3 and TB4 may be displayedaround the selection dial 11 and the zoom dial 12 disposed at the bottomcenter of the front panel 7 as shown in FIG. 26. In this case, themovements of the selection dial 11 and zoom dial 12 become correlatedwith that of the focus frame FC2. This improves the usability of theaudio device.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the audio device 1 thatstores and plays back the pieces of music content MC is applied. Howeverthe present invention is not limited to this. A content playback devicethat stores and plays back various content data, such as video data,still image data and text data, may be applied.

Alternatively, a navigation device that indicates a route from a startpoint to destination on a map may be applied. If the device displaysicons such as petrol stations and restaurants on a route from the startpoint to the destination, it may cull the icons in accordance with thezoom change operation. In this case, their priority evaluation values PVmay increase if they are close to the route. Alternatively, theirpriority evaluation values PV may increase if the user often utilizesthem.

Furthermore, an information processing device (such as a personalcomputer) capable of managing data in flies and managing the files byhierarchical folders may be applied. In this case, the device may switchthe layer of folder from one to another in accordance with the zoomchange operation, and extracts a representative file from each folder onthe switched layer to display them side by side on a screen. In thiscase, their priority evaluation values PV may increase if their updatedates are relatively new. Alternatively, their priority evaluationvalues PV may increase if the user often utilizes them. In this manner,the files may be extracted and displayed using the priority evaluationvalues PV.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the user rotates therotatable selection dial 11 (FIG. 11) and the rotatable zoom dial 12 toperform the selection operation and the zoom change operation. Howeverthe present invention is not limited to this. For example, the userpushes a selection button and a zoom button, which are the same type ofpush button as the operation buttons 9, to perform the selectionoperation and the zoom change operation.

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the audio device 1 withhardware configuration is applied. However the present invention is notlimited to this. For example, an electronic device, such as personalcomputers and mobile phones capable of playing back music and displayinginformation, may be applied. In this case, the electronic device mayexecute an audio player program, a thumbnail image display program andthe like to display a content display section whose capability is almostthe same as the content display section 8. In addition, the contentdisplay section may display thumbnail images SG after culling some ofthem. In this case, the user may operate keys and a mouse to perform theselection operation and the zoom change operation.

In addition, a storage medium for storing the audio player program, thethumbnail image display program and other programs includes the ROM 20Bof the control section 20, the hard disk drive 22 and an externalstorage medium such as the optical disc 4 and the small memory card 6.The programs stored in the external storage medium may be installed onthe hard disk drive 22. Alternatively, the audio player program, thethumbnail image display program and other programs may be acquiredthrough a communication cable such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) cablesand “Ethernet (Registered Trademark)” cables, or a wireless Local AreaNetwork (LAN) such as IEEE 802.11 a/b/g (IEEE: Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers).

Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the audio device 1, whichis equivalent to the data display apparatus, includes: the displaycondition setting section 20D, which is equivalent to extractioncondition setting means; and the arrangement section 20E, which isequivalent to extraction data display means. However the presentinvention is not limited to this. The data display apparatus may beequipped with other circuit components which are equivalent to theextraction condition setting means and the extraction data displaymeans.

The data display apparatus, data display method, data display programand graphical user interface according to an embodiment of the presentinformation may be also applied to various content playback devicescapable of playing back various kinds of content.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

1. A data display apparatus comprising at least memory and a processor,the data display apparatus comprising: a cull condition setting sectionthat sets a cull condition to cull exclusion data that an extractiondata display section does not display from an original data row where aplurality of images stored in the memory are arranged, by the processor,in a predetermined order, wherein each of the plurality of images isassociated with a respective music piece of a plurality of music pieces;and an extraction data display section that displays images that arewithin a predetermined range in an extraction data set where images ofthe plurality of images obtained by culling the exclusion data from theoriginal data row bases on the cull condition are arranged, wherein acenter image of the images is within a predetermined focus frame on thedisplay section, and wherein the cull condition is based on ranking ofthe plurality of music pieces.
 2. The data display apparatus of claim 1,wherein the ranking comprises a ranking of the plurality of music piecesaccording to a popularity during a period of time.
 3. The data displayapparatus of claim 2, wherein the ranking is selected from the groupconsisting of a weekly ranking, a monthly ranking and an annual ranking.4. The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the extraction datadisplay section displays the images that are within the predeterminedrange so that a first set of images from the images is displayed to theleft of the center image and a second set of images from the images isdisplayed to the right of the center image.
 5. The data displayapparatus of claim 1, wherein the images that are within thepredetermined range are arranged in the predetermined order comprisingan order of release date of music pieces associated with the images. 6.The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cull conditionsetting section sets the cull condition based on at least one threshold,and wherein an image of the plurality of images obtained by culling theexclusion data from the original data row based on the cull condition isselected when metadata comprising at least one evaluation valueassociated with a music piece associated with the image indicates thatthe at least one evaluation value is above the at least one threshold.7. The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cull conditionsetting section comprises a graphical user interface adapted to receiveuser input indicative of setting the cull condition.
 8. The data displayapparatus of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of images in the originaldata row comprise a plurality of thumbnail images each associated with arespective music piece of the plurality of music pieces; and the imagesof the plurality of images displayed in the extraction data displaysection are enlarged relative to a size of thumbnail images of theplurality of thumbnail images, wherein the original data raw indicateswhich images in the original data raw comprise the images displayed inthe extraction data display section.
 9. The data display apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the extraction data display section: displays theimages of the plurality of images obtained by culling the exclusion datafrom the original data row as thumbnail images; and displays a set ofthe images that are within the predetermined range as enlarged relativeto a size of the thumbnail images.
 10. The data display apparatus ofclaim 9, wherein the center image is associated with a music piece thatis currently played.
 11. The data display apparatus of claim 1, whereincull information is displayed near the extraction data set, the cullinformation indicating data near the images in extraction data set hasbeen removed from the original data row, wherein a distance betweenadjoining two images of the extraction data set which do not adjoin oneanother in the original row and a distance between adjoining two imagesin the original data row are substantially same.
 12. The data displayapparatus of claim 11, wherein the cull information is a numericcharacter indicating a number of data between the two images in theoriginal data row.
 13. A method of operating a computer comprising atleast one processor and memory, the method comprising: with the at leastone processor: setting at least one cull condition that defines which ofa plurality of images arranged in a predetermined order and stored inthe memory to extract as extraction data that is to be displayed on adisplay section, wherein each image of the plurality of images isassociated with a respective music piece of a plurality of music pieces;applying the at least cull condition to the plurality of images toobtain extraction data comprising images from the plurality of imagesthat the display section displays; and displaying, in an extraction dataset, the extraction data comprising images of the plurality of imagesthat are arranged in the predetermined order, and images that are withina predetermined range, the images are obtained by culling the exclusiondata from the original data row based on the cull condition arearranged, wherein a center image of the images that are within thepredetermined range is within a predetermined focus frame in apredetermined display size on the display section, wherein the cullcondition is based on ranking of the plurality of music pieces.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the ranking comprises a ranking of theplurality of music pieces according to a popularity during a period oftime.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the ranking is selected fromthe group consisting of a weekly ranking, a monthly ranking and anannual ranking.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the display sectiondisplays the images that are within the predetermined range so that afirst set of images from the images is displayed to the left of thecenter image and a second set of images from the images is displayed tothe right of the center image.
 17. A computer system comprising at leastmemory and a processor, the computer system comprising: a cull conditionsetting section for setting a cull condition to cull exclusion data thatan extraction data display section does not display from an originaldata row where a plurality of images stored in the memory are arranged,by the processor, in a predetermined order, wherein each of theplurality of images is associated with a respective music piece of aplurality of music pieces; and an extraction data display section thatdisplays images that are within a predetermined range in an extractiondata set where images of the plurality of images obtained by culling theexclusion data from the original data row bases on the cull conditionare arranged, wherein a center image of the images is within apredetermined focus frame on the display section, and wherein the cullcondition is based on ranking of the plurality of music pieces.
 18. Thecomputer system of claim 17, wherein the images that are within thepredetermined range are arranged in the predetermined order comprisingan order of release date of music pieces associated with the images. 19.The computer system of claim 17, wherein the images that are within thepredetermined range are arranged in the predetermined order comprisingan order of release date of music pieces associated with the images. 20.The computer system of claim 17, wherein the cull condition settingsection comprises a graphical user interface adapted to receive userinput indicative of setting the cull condition.